February 2020 archive

28
Feb
2020

Newsletter 22: Week ending February 28

categories: Uncategorized

We had another great week of learning together! I’m proud of the way your kids are pushing through during this long stretch of school between Christmas break and spring break. They continue to bring their best attitudes and do their best work.

Important Dates & Reminders

  • The following dates are special dress-up days to celebrate March is reading month! Our theme is Dr. Seuss. 🙂
    • Wednesday, March 4: Wear Silly Socks (Fox in Socks By: Dr. Seuss)
    • Wednesday, March 11: Hat Day (The Cat in the Hat By: Dr. Seuss)
    • Tuesday, March 17: Wear Green (Green Eggs and Ham By: Dr. Seuss)
    • Friday, March 27: PJ Day (The Sleep Book By: Dr. Seuss)
  • Tuesday, March 24: Field trip to Visser Farms (I’m still looking for a couple more drivers please. If you’re interested in joining us and willing to drive, please use this link to sign up.)
  • April 3-10: Spring Break
  • April 17: ZCS Auction

Curriculum

Bible: We finished our unit on miracles. This week we read about Jesus healing a man with leprosy and a man who was born blind. Our next unit will be on parables.

Miracles Bible Verse: Pidan, y se les dará; busquen, y encontrarán; llamen, y se les abrirá. Mateo 7:7

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

Literacy: This week we talked about reflexive verbs. This kind of verb is used to express that one does an action to oneself. Often they are used when we talk about routines. For example, I get myself dressed, I brush my teeth, I wash my hands.

  • Reading strategy: Inferring
  • Read aloud: Corduroy
  • Vocabulary words
    • la tienda (store)
    • la gente (people)
    • el botĂłn (button)
    • la muñeca (doll)
    • los pantalones (pants)
  • Phrase of the week: Yo fui al ____. I’m went to ____.
  • Words on the wall so far: el, Ă©l, no, la, si, sĂ­, mamá, y, papá, soy, en, tu, tĂş, es, de, bien, son, voy, quiero, este, muy

Math: We continue to talk about teen numbers, working to see them as groups of 10 and some more. This week we also started a book on preposition and direction words.

Writing Workshop: We are looking forward to celebrating our unit on pattern books next week! This week we started our unit on how to books by learning the words for first, primero, next, luego, and lastly, al final. These words will be important as we work to write books to tell someone how to do something.

Exploring God’s World: In this unit we are talking about motion. The kindergarteners are conducting an investigation to see how they can use ramps and barriers to make ping pong balls move faster, slower, and stop.

Up in Lights: Ellie was up in lights this week! Elli brought some of her favorite friends from Build-a-Bear. As she presented her project and shared her story with the class it was clear why she would like to be a teacher when she grows up. Ellie, you certainly are a gift from God! We love you!

21
Feb
2020

Newsletter 21: Week ending February 21

categories: Uncategorized

One thing that struck me this week is how much Spanish your children are using! Several times I noticed them helping each other remember certain vocabulary in an effort to help their friends speak only Spanish. Very soon we will be raising the expectation and I will be encouraging students to use only Spanish in their conversations with peers. We will not have a consequence for English use until after spring break. It will be a very gentle consequence and I know your kids will be able to handle it!

Important Dates & Reminders

  • Quarters: At the beginning of this month I sent home some information encouraging you to have a conversation with your child about what it could look like for them to earn money to support our sponsor student in the Philippines. This is an optional project. If your family has chosen to participate, please bring the donations in by the end of this coming week.
  • Tuesday, March 17: Elementary Spring Program at 6:15 at Community Reformed Church. More details will come from the music teachers soon. Kindergarten classes will perform.
  • Tuesday, March 3: optional parent/teacher conferences
  • Tuesday, March 24: Field trip to Visser Farms (I’ll send a SignUp Genius soon to request drivers)
  • April 3-10: Spring Break
  • April 17: ZCS Auction

Curriculum

Bible: We continue to read about miracles Jesus performed. This week we read about Jesus walking on water and calming the storm. Next week we’ll read about Jesus healing people.

Miracles Bible Verse: Pidan, y se les dará; busquen, y encontrarán; llamen, y se les abrirá. Mateo 7:7

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

Literacy: We continued learning about verb conjugations. This time we focused on third person plural. In English this would be the pronoun “they.” In Spanish we say “ellos,” “ellas.” The same conjugation is used for the second person plural, “ustedes.”

  • Reading strategy: Visualizing
  • Read aloud: El Diente de Franklin
  • Vocabulary words
    • el diente (tooth)
    • la hada (fairy)
    • la almohada (pillow)
    • la dentista (dentist)
    • la moneda (coin)
  • Word wall word: este (this) yo (I)
  • Phrase of the week: Yo voy a ____. I’m going to ____.
  • Words on the wall so far: el, Ă©l, no, la, si, sĂ­, mamá, y, papá, soy, en, tu, tĂş, es, de, bien, son, voy, quiero, este

Math: We continue to talk about teen numbers. This week we practiced writing 14, 15, and 16. We also played Memory to practice matching the teen number with the matching card that had the sum (10+__.)

Writing Workshop: We are nearly finished with our unit on pattern books! This coming week we will publish our favorite stories. The next unit will be on How To books. You can help your child prepare for this unit by discussing things your child likes to do and could teach others. Some ideas include, how to make a favorite food, how to tie shoes, how to draw a certain animal, etc.

Up in Lights: Aubrey was up in lights this week! The class really enjoyed when her mom shared all her baby books with us! Aubrey you are so special to us! We love you!

18
Feb
2020

Newsletter 20: Week ending February 14

categories: Uncategorized

Happy 100 days of school! Happy Valentine’s Day! We had such a good day celebrating at school today. Thank you for all your help making it possible!

Important Dates & Reminders

  • Friday, February 14- Monday, February 17: No School
  • Tuesday, February 18: This is the next opportunity to add afternoons to your child’s schedule if you’d like. Please let me know asap if you plan to make a change. Adding time is optional this time. The next opportunity to make a change will be in April when everyone will begin to attend on Wednesday afternoons.
  • Conferences: If you’d like to schedule a conference with me for the evening of March 5, please let me know as soon as possible. Check your inbox for the instructions on how to sign up for a time slot. Thank you!

Curriculum

Bible: In Bible we are doing a unit on Jesus’ miracles. This week we talked about Jesus calming the storm.

Miracles Bible Verse: Pidan, y se les dará; busquen, y encontrarán; llamen, y se les abrirá. Mateo 7:7

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

Literacy: With such a short week, lots of celebrations, and unplanned time with substitute teachers we were not able to give our leveled books the time and attention we normally do. I did not send new books home with your child. Instead, please read and enjoy the books from previous weeks again. Thank you!

  • Reading strategy: Visualizing
  • Read aloud: Quiero Viajar
  • Vocabulary words
    • aviĂłn (airplane)
    • yate/bote (boat)
    • el velero (sailboat)
    • el autobus (bus)
    • el cohete (rocket)
    • el tren (train)
    • explorar (to explore)
    • viajar (to travel)
  • Phrase of the week: Hice ___. (I did ___. or I made ___.
  • Words on the wall so far: el, Ă©l, no, la, si, sĂ­, mamá, y, papá, soy, en, tu, tĂş, es, de, bien, son, voy, quiero

Math: Many of our math lessons this week centered around day 100! It was fun to participate in some different kinds of activities together!

Writing Workshop: We continue working on pattern books. We are working hard to make sure we stick to the same theme on all the pages of our pattern book. I hope to help students publish their books and celebrate their great writing in the next week or so!

Up in Lights: Emilia was Up in Lights this week!  She hopes to be a teacher or vet when she grows up.  Emilia very proudly showed us the outfit from her dance showcase last spring. She is taking dance through Turning Pointe. Emilia, we’re so glad God brought your family to ZCS this year! We love you!

07
Feb
2020

Newsletter 19: Week ending February 7

categories: Uncategorized

It’s an exciting time to be a kindergartener! Your kids are continuing to work hard and are getting very excited for the special days we have coming up soon!

Important Dates & Reminders

  • Tuesday, February 11 @ 9:00: All school chapel. Kindergarten and 8th grade will be participating/leading!
  • Thursday, February 13: Class Valentine’s Day Celebration & 100th day of school!
    • If your child would like to pass out valentines please bring enough for 21 students. Please fill out the “From: ___” section, but not the “To: ___” section as this greatly simplifies passing out the valentines.
    • If you’re interested in helping by volunteering time or supplies, please see this SignUp Genius.
  • Thursday, February 13: 100th Day of School
    • Zero the Hero (secretly Mr. McAboy) will be visiting our school to help us celebrate 100 days of learning! Throughout the day, we’ll be doing a few fun literacy and math activities. God has been so good these 100 days! Your child may dress up as a super hero or princess to celebrate with Zero the Hero. 
    • No PM bussing
  • Friday, February 14- Monday, February 17: No School

Curriculum

Bible: In Bible we began a new unit on Jesus’ miracles. We started with his first miracle, turning water into wine.

Miracles Bible Verse: Pidan, y se les dará; busquen, y encontrarán; llamen, y se les abrirá. Mateo 7:7

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

Literacy: This week we continued our conversations about verbs. We practiced looking for the verb endings, this time focusing on the 1st person plural form.

  • Reading strategy: Visualizing
  • Read aloud: Quiero Viajar
  • Vocabulary words
    • aviĂłn (airplane)
    • yate/bote (boat)
    • el velero (sailboat)
    • el autobus (bus)
    • el cohete (rocket)
    • el tren (train)
    • explorar (to explore)
    • viajar (to travel)
  • Phrase of the week: Hice ___. (I did ___. or I made ___.
  • Words on the wall so far: el, Ă©l, no, la, si, sĂ­, mamá, y, papá, soy, en, tu, tĂş, es, de, bien, son, voy

Math: In math we are trying to see bigger numbers as having two parts. This is helpful as we talk about addition and subtraction.

Writing Workshop: We continue working on pattern books. We are working hard to make sure we stick to the same theme on all the pages of our pattern book.

Exploring God’s World: We started a new unit this week on motion. We reflected on the different ways we used motion on our gymnastics field trip and how we use it on the playground every day.

Up in Lights: Dawson was Up in Lights this week!  She hopes to be a teacher and loves diamond rings! 🙂 Dawson has such a sweet and tender heart. She cares deeply about her classmates. I think this will make her a great teacher one day!